1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to a vehicle wash apparatus and, more specifically, to a vehicle wash apparatus having a pair of spray arms adapted to move about the surface of the vehicle at an optimum cleaning distance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Motor vehicles are washed and cleaned in order to preserve and extend the life of the vehicle finish and maintain its appearance. Automatic drive-through wash facilities that provide this service are well known. For example, traditional tunnel, conveyor-type wash facilities are common in this industry and typically employ an array of equipment that sequentially treats the vehicle as it passes through the facility. While these systems have generally worked for their intended purpose, the traditional tunnel systems occupy a considerable amount of space and often require a considerable amount of maintenance to keep the associated series of wash mechanisms operational. Further, the traditional tunnel systems generally consume sizable amounts of water and wash chemicals.
In addition to the tunnel systems, small bay wash systems are also employed in the related art. These systems provide space-savings over the tunnel conveyor systems. Accordingly, they may be employed in a variety of locations where space is at a premium, such as a single garage size bay in a gas station or at a convenience store. Additionally, the small bay wash systems generally provide directed nozzles or movable spray arms with jets to deliver pressurized water and chemicals to the surface of the vehicle. In this way, the small bay wash systems generally consume far less water and chemicals as compared with tunnel systems. Given these advantages, small bay wash systems have proliferated. Of these, the majority are rollover type vehicle wash systems. Rollover wash systems are so named because they move a wash mechanism back and forth about (i.e. roll over) a stationary vehicle. Rollover wash systems confine the wash event to one relatively small area, which allows the water and chemicals to be applied more effectively and efficiently.
A gantry-type system is one example of a rollover vehicle wash system of the kind generally known in the art. The gantry style rollover wash system includes a movable system in which the wash mechanisms are contained within a large rigid inverted “U”-shaped housing that surrounds the vehicle and rides back and forth in floor-mounted tracks. However, the width of the gantry system is not adjustable and therefore limits the size of the vehicle that can be effectively washed and puts wider vehicles at risk for damage. Further, the floor tracks can easily be fouled by debris causing the gantry to stall along its travel. To counter these problems, some gantry style systems are constructed having a wider wash envelope that is designed to span wider vehicles. Gantry style systems of this type typically move the track farther outboard of the vehicle. However, with this wider structure, smaller vehicles are not as effectively cleaned without the addition of costly, complex spray arms that are controlled to extend inwardly from the gantry toward the vehicle. Additionally, properly cleaning the front and rear ends of the vehicle can be problematic for gantry style wash systems unless further extendable spray arms that can reach these areas are added. Ultimately, widening the gantry so that a greater variety of vehicles can be effectively washed and so that the tracks are less prone to fouling causes the gantry to be much less efficient. Moreover, compensating for the loss of efficiency by adding additional extending spray arms increases the cost and complexity of the gantry style systems.
In addition to the moveable gentry style devices, it is also known to provide wash systems that employ a fixed or rigid frame. A rigid frame wash system has a wide stationary frame that spans the wash area and provides an overhead carriage assembly that moves along the frame over the vehicle. This avoids the vehicle width and floor track issues, but causes other limitations and drawbacks to arise. For example, one conventional rigid frame wash system includes an overhead support for a single inverted L-shaped spray arm that extends from a centrally located shuttle. The L-shaped spray arm has both vertically and horizontally-aimed spray nozzles and moves longitudinally, laterally, and pivotally to circumscribe a parked vehicle. The controlled movement of the spray arm requires a complex and expensive mechanical system. Specifically, there are many moving parts that are required to the constantly adjust the single spray arm as it moves around the vehicle to keep the spray arm at an efficient washing distance from the vehicle without striking it. Thus, there remains a need in the art for an improved vehicle wash system employed with a rigid frame that has a mechanically simplified structure to efficiently move spray arms about the vehicle.
Further, the location of the pivot point of the single spray arm causes washing inefficiencies. For example, when the spray arm reaches the ends of the vehicle, the arm must go beyond the end, stop and then pivot 90 degrees to begin a sweep of the end surface. In so doing, the downwardly-directed nozzles cover a sector-shaped area of the hood and trunk lid a number of times and the horizontally-directed nozzles spray into empty space for a significant period. This is time-consuming, inefficient, can result in wasted water and chemicals, and can increase the associated sewage costs for waste water. Other conventional rigid frame type wash systems have employed two arms from a central shuttle that are somewhat faster, but still wasteful of water and chemicals. Thus, there remains a need for an improved vehicle wash system employed with a rigid frame that has two spray arms that circumscribe the vehicle quickly and efficiently with an effective but minimal use of water and chemicals.
In addition to these shortcomings, conventional wash systems are easily damaged if their moving spray arms come in contact with the vehicle. This may happen during the course of the wash event where a malfunction of the control of the wash can cause the spray arms to strike the vehicle, or during the movement of the vehicle in and out of the wash area if an errant driver strikes a spray arm with the vehicle. Regardless, the spray arms of a typical wash apparatus are not designed to withstand an impact of this kind. Similarly, the spray arms can cause reciprocal damage to the vehicle in these circumstances. The resulting damage to the wash system and to the vehicle is due to the rigid nature of the spray arm assemblies of the conventional systems. Thus, there remains a need in the art for a rigid frame overhead wash systems that is configured to avoid damage to either the system or the vehicle.
In attempting to reduce any damage due to collision between the vehicle and the wash system, some rigid frame wash systems have employed inverted L-shaped spray arms that include breakaway joints. However, these wash systems place the breakaway joint at the upper, overhead pivot points so that the L-shaped spray arms remain substantially nonflexible. This offers some protection for the spray arm but does not prevent damage to the vehicle. Furthermore, the typical breakaway joint requires a maintenance technician to manually reset the spray arm in the event the arm becomes deflected and often requires the replacement of parts of the joint Therefore, in conventional wash systems, an inadvertent contact with a vehicle not only causes damage to the vehicle, but also forces the wash system to be shut down until the arm is manually reset or repaired and the system restarted. Thus, there remains a need in the art for an improved vehicle wash system having spray arms with a breakaway feature that minimizes any damage to a vehicle and that can quickly reset without requiring any replacement of parts or other maintenance assistance.
Furthermore, the optimum vehicle wash is one in which the spray arms are placed at a predetermined optimal distance from the vehicle, but not so close as to strike it while circumscribing the surface. However, the conventional wash systems do not generally employ sensor systems to determine the actual placement or the relative dimensions of the vehicle as it sits in the wash area then use this information to control the spray arms. Those that do employ rudimentary sensing devices merely do so to identify that the vehicle is located within certain boundaries of the wash area so that the spray arms will not likely strike the vehicle, but do not provide this information to the electronic control unit (ECU) to control the placement and movement of the spray arms during the wash event. However, these systems generally do not move the spray arms into close predetermined proximity with the sides of the vehicle in ensure an efficient and high quality wash event each and every time. Thus, there remains a need in the art for an improved vehicle wash system that employs a sensor system to provide specific information to a higher-level control device regarding the distance between the spray arms and the vehicle so that the movement of the spray arms may be optimally controlled.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the related art for an improved vehicle wash system employed with a rigid frame that has a mechanically simplified structure to efficiently move spray arms about the vehicle, utilizes two spray arms to circumscribe the vehicle quickly and efficiently with an effective but minimal use of water and chemicals, that minimizes or prevents damage to a vehicle and that quickly resets itself in the event of a collision without requiring any replacement of parts or other maintenance assistance, and utilizes a sensor system to operatively control the movement of the spray arms.